Bandar Seri Begawan - If What two tourists told The Brunei Times recently holds true, Brunei is not easily accessible to the independent tourist and needs much improvement in public transportation services and in dissemination of tourist information.

One of the big problems tourists Damjan Canzek and Rok Terkaj first encountered was a lack of cheap and readily available transport.

"It cost us $35 to travel from the airport to our hotel (the Brunei Hotel in Bandar Seri Begawan). Our accommodation cost as much as the taxi fare," said freelance writer Canzek.

The two Slovenians, who were in transit in Brunei on their journey back home, were too tired to stay at the airport for nearly a whole day while waiting for a flight, and had no other choice but to use the taxi as they knew of no other modes of transportation from the airport.

They added that they had not come across readily available information about the interesting sights in Brunei. "There's no literature or people around to tell you what are the interesting things to see in the country,"said Canzek.

"I asked some locals what was interesting about their country and the response I got was football."

"We saw some posters, but they were years old and already faded," added Terkaj.

Luckily, the pair were within walking distance of two of the main tourist sights in town: the Kampong Ayer waterfront and the Sultan Omar 'Ali Saifuddin Mosque.

It was only when they were leaving for their flight they found out about other attractions in Brunei, such as Ulu Temburong, Muara Beach and the dive sites in Brunei.

On the other hand, tourists to Brunei who have family or friends in the country, or those on package holidays, appear to have a much easier time getting around the Sultanate.

Alfie and Rita Cowie from Aberdeen, Scotland, who were in Brunei for their third time visiting their daughter, had no problem visiting the capital even though they were staying in Kuala Belait

They had the convenience of knowing someone in Brunei who had a car and could take them to the local hotspots.

Harjit McLean, an expatriate, explained that when she and her family first moved to Brunei they lived with a host family for the first month to ease them into Brunei life, but added that it was difficult to get around.

Asked what they did to combat this, Harjit answered, "We bought cars."

Harjit, who lives at the Penanjong Garrison in Tutong, said that Tasek Merimbun and the Tutong Spit are two tourist spots in Brunei that deserve much more promotion to make people aware of them, emphasising the need for better marketing of the sights in Brunei.

"Now that we know about these places and we have a car, when friends or relatives come to visit we can easily take them around to show them the sights," she said.

Harjit agreed, saying that Brunei is a difficult place to tour without guides or friends who can take you around.

Please email any comments or suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Courtesy of The Brunei Times

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